Police-Worn Body Cameras: An Antidote to the \u27Ferguson Effect\u27?

You are a police officer working the night shift in a major U.S. city. In the dark hours of the early morning, you come across a group of young males in a part of the city known for criminal activity. When they see your patrol car, the young men stop what they are doing and look away quickly. All of your training, as well as the instincts that you have developed over years patrolling these same streets, tells you to stop and at least attempt to start a conversation with the group to determine whether criminal activity is afoot and perhaps prevent it. There is, however, a nagging thought in the back of your head. Isn’t it possible – or perhaps likely – that someone in the group or nearby will have a video device and record the encounter? What if the crowd attempts to provoke a confrontation and then records it? What if the recording is posted to the Internet or sent to the media? Should such thoughts temper your judgment in this situation? Would they make you hesitate to get out of the car? Would it make a difference to you if you knew that you were wearing a body camera – one that you controlled, that would record your view of the situation, with images that could not be disposed of or edited after the fact by someone intending to deprive viewers of necessary context? This Article explores the questions raised by this scenario, focusing on police-worn body cameras, the role these cameras may play in officer-citizen encounters, and the resolution of legal disputes that arise from such encounters. Part II discusses what role, if any, citizen-recorded videos and the effect they have on society play in the prevalence of crime – what has sometimes been called the “Ferguson effect.” Part III explores the role police-worn body cameras could play in counteracting any such effect, addressing arguments in favor of body cameras and exploring their potential to encourage positive police and citizen behavior. Part IV then considers potential concerns about the use of body cameras, exploring arguments against their use and their potential to hinder police behavior. Finally, Part V offers conclusions and recommendations on the issue of police-worn body cameras

Police-Worn Body Cameras: An Antidote to the “Ferguson Effect”?

This Article explores the questions raised by this scenario, focusing on police-worn body cameras, the role these cameras may play in officer-citizen encounters, and the resolution of legal disputes that arise from such encounters. Part II discusses what role, if any, citizen-recorded videos and the effect they have on society play in the prevalence of crime – what has sometimes been called the “Ferguson effect.” Part III explores the role police-worn body cameras could play in counteracting any such effect, addressing arguments in favor of body cameras and exploring their potential to encourage positive police and citizen behavior. Part IV then considers potential concerns about the use of body cameras, exploring arguments against their use and their potential to hinder police behavior. Finally, Part V offers conclusions and recommendations on the issue of police-worn body cameras

Focus, Vol. 1 No. 1

A literary magazine of student writing published by the Department of English of Stephen F. Austin State College.https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/focus/1000/thumbnail.jp

The First Extrasolar Planet Discovered with a New Generation High Throughput Doppler Instrument

We report the detection of the first extrasolar planet, ET-1 (HD 102195b), using the Exoplanet Tracker (ET), a new generation Doppler instrument. The planet orbits HD 102195, a young star with solar metallicity that may be part of the local association. The planet imparts radial velocity variability to the star with a semiamplitude of $63.4\pm2.0$ m s$^{-1}$ and a period of 4.11 days. The planetary minimum mass ($m \sin i$) is $0.488\pm0.015$ $M_J$.Comment: 42 pages, 11 figures and 5 tables, Accepted for publication in Ap

Kepler-16: A Transiting Circumbinary Planet

We report the detection of a planet whose orbit surrounds a pair of low-mass stars. Data from the Kepler spacecraft reveal transits of the planet across both stars, in addition to the mutual eclipses of the stars, giving precise constraints on the absolute dimensions of all three bodies. The planet is comparable to Saturn in mass and size, and is on a nearly circular 229-day orbit around its two parent stars. The eclipsing stars are 20% and 69% as massive as the sun, and have an eccentric 41-day orbit. The motions of all three bodies are confined to within 0.5 degree of a single plane, suggesting that the planet formed within a circumbinary disk.Comment: Science, in press; for supplemental material see http://www.sciencemag.org/content/suppl/2011/09/14/333.6049.1602.DC1/1210923.Doyle.SOM.pd

Discovery of a Third Transiting Planet in the Kepler-47 Circumbinary System

Of the nine confirmed transiting circumbinary planet systems, only Kepler-47 is known to contain more than one planet. Kepler-47 b (the "inner planet") has an orbital period of 49.5 days and a radius of about 3 R⊕. Kepler-47 c (the "outer planet") has an orbital period of 303.2 days and a radius of about 4.7 R⊕. Here we report the discovery of a third planet, Kepler-47 d (the "middle planet"), which has an orbital period of 187.4 days and a radius of about 7 R⊕. The presence of the middle planet allows us to place much better constraints on the masses of all three planets, where the 1σranges are less than 26 M⊕, between 7–43 M⊕, and between 2–5 M⊕ for the inner, middle, and outer planets, respectively. The middle and outer planets have low bulk densities, with ρ_(middle) < 0.68 g cm^(−3) and ρ_(outer) < 0.26 g cm^(−3) at the 1σ level. The two outer planets are "tightly packed," assuming the nominal masses, meaning no other planet could stably orbit between them. All of the orbits have low eccentricities and are nearly coplanar, disfavoring violent scattering scenarios and suggesting gentle migration in the protoplanetary disk

Equine infectious anemia : prevalence in working equids of livestock herds, in Minas Gerais, Brazil

Estimaram-se, no estado de Minas Gerais, a prevalência e a distribuição espacial da anemia infecciosa eqüina (AIE) em propriedades com eqüídeos de serviço. As amostras de sangue, de 6540 eqüídeos de 1940 rebanhos foram coletadas no período de setembro de 2003 a março de 2004, nos 853 municípios do estado. Utilizaram-se dois testes de laboratório em seqüência: ELISA, usando-se antígeno recombinante gp90, e imunodifusão em gel de ágar (IDGA). As prevalências foram de 5,3% [IC=4,3 a 6,3%] para rebanhos e de 3,1% [IC=2,2 a 3,9%] para animais. O estado de Minas Gerais foi considerado área endêmica para AIE. As mais altas prevalências para rebanhos e para animais foram encontradas na região Norte/Noroeste, seguida pela região Vale do Mucuri/Jequitinhonha. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACTThe prevalence and spatial distribution of equine infectious anemia (EIA) were estimated in livestock herds where equids were used as draft power and for transportation in the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Serum samples were collected from September/2003 to March/2004 in 853 municipalities of the state. The sample comprised 6,540 equids from 1,940 herds. Two laboratorial tests were performed in sequence: ELISA using a recombinant gp90 protein, following by the AGID. The prevalence in the herds was estimated in 5.3% [CI = 4.3 to 6.3%], and 3.1% [CI = 2.2 to 3.9%] of the animals tested were positive. Minas Gerais was considered an endemic region for EIA. The highest prevalence for herds and animals was found in North/Northwest region (strata) followed by Vale do Mucuri/Jequitinhonha region

Association between the plasma/whole blood lead ratio and history of spontaneous abortion: a nested cross-sectional study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Blood lead has been associated with an elevated risk of miscarriage. The plasmatic fraction of lead represents the toxicologically active fraction of lead. Women with a tendency to have a higher plasma/whole blood Pb ratio could tend towards an elevated risk of miscarriage due to a higher plasma Pb for a given whole blood Pb and would consequently have a history of spontaneous abortion.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We studied 207 pregnant Mexico City residents during the 1^sttrimester of pregnancy, originally recruited for two cohorts between 1997 and 2004. Criteria for inclusion in this study were having had at least one previous pregnancy, and having valid plasma and blood Pb measurements. Pb was measured in whole blood and plasma by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry using ultra-clean techniques. History of miscarriage in previous pregnancies was obtained by interview. The incidence rate of spontaneous abortion was defined as the proportion of previous pregnancies that resulted in miscarriage. Data were analyzed by means of Poisson regression models featuring the incidence rate of spontaneous abortion as the outcome and continuous or categorized plasma/blood Pb ratios as predictor variables. All models were adjusted for age and schooling. Additionally, logistic regression models featuring inclusion in the study sample as the outcome were fitted to assess potential selection bias.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The mean number of miscarriages was 0.42 (range 0 to 4); mean Pb concentrations were 62.4 and 0.14 μg/L in whole blood and plasma respectively. Mean plasma/blood Pb ratio was 0.22%. We estimated that a 0.1% increment in the plasma/blood Pb ratio lead was associated to a 12% greater incidence of spontaneous abortion (p = 0.02). Women in the upper tertile of the plasma/blood Pb ratio had twice the incidence rate of those in the lower tertile (p = 0.02). Conditional on recruitment cohort, inclusion in the study sample was unrelated to observable characteristics such as number of abortions, number of pregnancies, blood Pb levels, age schooling, weight and height.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Women with a large plasma/whole blood Pb ratio may be at higher risk of miscarriage, which could be due to a greater availability of placental barrier-crossing Pb.</p

Antinuclear Antibodies, Rheumatoid Factor and c-Reactive Protein in Serum of Normal Women Using Oral Contraceptives

Some women who report to a hospital or arthritis clinic note exacerbation of rheumatic complaints and develop serologic abnormalities while taking oral contraceptives. The current study concerns the detection of antinuclear antibodies, rheumatoid factor and C-reactive protein in normal women using these drugs. Prospective study of 82 women before and during oral contraceptive use permitted the detection of 4 who developed antinuclear antibodies, 9 who developed rheumatoid factor and 30 who developed C-reactive protein after less than 1 year of drug use. The prevalence of positive tests was greater in a group of 210 women who were using OC than that found in a group of 174 who had never used these drugs. None of these women developed rheumatic symptoms while using oral contraceptives.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/37718/1/1780140208_ftp.pd

Standalone vertex finding in the ATLAS muon spectrometer

A dedicated reconstruction algorithm to find decay vertices in the ATLAS muon spectrometer is presented. The algorithm searches the region just upstream of or inside the muon spectrometer volume for multi-particle vertices that originate from the decay of particles with long decay paths. The performance of the algorithm is evaluated using both a sample of simulated Higgs boson events, in which the Higgs boson decays to long-lived neutral particles that in turn decay to bbar b final states, and pp collision data at √s = 7 TeV collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC during 2011